Summer 1999 – Issue 55 - Stanford Lawyer - Stanford University

can finally relax.BY KEVIN COOLSeated on the cream-colored couch in hisspacious office, Brest sinks into the pillows, stretcheshis legs, and crosses his arms comfortably. He is inrepose, literally and figuratively; as he considers the arcofa 12-year deanship marked by tumult and triumph."We were at a wedding recently, and Iris pulled me aside and said, 'Thisisn't your party, you don't need to work the room,' " Brest said, smiling. "Thereis some unlearning to be done."September 1, when Brest steps down as Dean ofthe Law School, the sunwill set on an administration that many believe was the greatest in the historyof the institution. They certainly have a case.Brest set and met lmprecedented fund-raising goals, reenergized alurrmi,nurtured innovation, recruited powerhouse faculty, and fostered an affirming,humane culture.Just as remarkably, Brest emerges from the deanship with his energy intactand psyche w1scarred. "I'm leaving the job at a time I still love it," he said.Twelve years ago nobody would have predicted such an ending.On October 7, 1987, Brest sent his first annual letter to Stanford Law alumnidescribing the state of the School. He had been Dean for five weeks. 1welvedays after the letter was mailed the stock market dropped 511 points-a plungethat produced tens of millions of dollars in paper losses in the Stanford endowment-andset in motion the first crisis of his deanship.A recession followed Black Monday. Students who applied came withgreater financial need, stressing the School's ability to maintain its need-blindadmissions policy. Then, in October 1989, an earthquake devastated the BayArea and caused more than $50,000 in damage to the Robert Crown LawPHOTOGRAPHS BYBILL ZEMANEK~ ,UMMIR 1999